


Point of No Return

by perdiccas



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Ficlet, M/M, Missing Scene, Road Trip, Zane!Sylar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-15
Updated: 2008-09-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 10:52:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perdiccas/pseuds/perdiccas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The lock was sticking just as it had done when Sylar had been here with Chandra. It was strange sense of déjà vu to be standing outside this building again."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Point of No Return

**Author's Note:**

> Runner Up Best Mohinder/Sylar Fic (G-PG-13) @ the Heroes Slash Awards: Winter 2009

It was cold on the sidewalk outside Mohinder's apartment. The cold in Montana had been invigorating, a sign of prospects and things to come. The snow that fell around them had been clean and blank, undisturbed like the future still to be determined. Now, in New York, the cold was biting and cruel. All around them the snow and ice had become a dirty mess of slush and grit, too polluted to ever be clean once more.

Mohinder mumbled his apologies as he fumbled with the keys in his thick gloves. The lock was sticking just as it had done when Sylar had been here with Chandra. It was strange sense of déjà vu to be standing outside this building again. Nothing and everything had changed. With a triumphant smile and a forceful _thump_ of his shoulder, Mohinder opened the door and motioned him inside.

The entrance hall was dim and dingy. It still smelt of mouldering paint. Sylar watched as Mohinder pulled off his gloves with his teeth, checking his mailbox as he shifted the bags on his shoulder. The ritual was eerie in its familiarity. How often had _Gabriel_ stood in this exact spot, waiting anxiously as Chandra's attention turned to his mail, with every passing week growing more interested in catalogues and junk mail than in Sylar's presence?

An uneasy feeling settled in Sylar's gut. There were too many unpleasant memories locked up in this building. It shouldn't still sting to remember Chandra's rejection but it did. He ran his hand along the wooden banister, avoiding the splinters that had caught on his hands so many months ago. Mohinder glanced up and smiled apologetically as he shuffled through the envelopes and moved towards the stairs. He tossed the keys in his hand. The jangle of metal sounded out the seconds as Sylar waited. The noise seemed to grow louder, building ominously in Sylar's ears until it was all he could hear. He grabbed Mohinder's hand and covered it with his own. The keys pressed bluntly into his palm, a cool and inflexible barrier between them. In the narrow corridor, the sudden silence was deafening.

'Zane?' Mohinder asked kindly. His mouth was upturned in a bemused smile as he twisted back to catch his eye. Mohinder's foot hovered above the first stair and with an involuntary twitch of his fingers Sylar held his hand tighter. The metal teeth of the keys were painful now against his skin.

'What is it?' Mohinder's eyes darted down to their joined hands and his smile began to falter at the edges. 'Zane?'

Mohinder's voice was more insistent now. Sylar shook his head but didn't release Mohinder from his grip. Instead, with a sudden jerk of his arm, he pulled him closer. For the first time since meeting Mohinder, Sylar didn't pause to think what Zane would have done.

Mohinder, knocked off balance, stumbled towards him and fell into his arms. He tried to brace himself with his palm on Sylar's chest, laughing nervously as he found himself only inches from Sylar's face. His fingertips dug into Sylar's chest as his hand tensed. Without thinking, Sylar cupped the back of his neck, twisting his fingers in the hair at the nape of Mohinder's neck and kissed him. Mohinder's lips parted in surprise and Sylar pressed forward, slipping his tongue inside Mohinder's mouth and lapping softly at his tongue.

Sylar hooked his arm around Mohinder's waist, his other hand still holding Mohinder's tightly at their side. His palm was numb where Chandra's keys bit into him. Mohinder's hand on his chest moved to his shoulder, squeezing tightly as he stood rigidly in Sylar's embrace, lips unmoving and eyes open wide in shock.

Firmly, Mohinder pushed him back, breaking the kiss. He tried to lean forward and nip at Mohinder's bottom lip but Mohinder turned his head to the side and his lips fell short. Slowly, Sylar's arm relaxed the grip on Mohinder's middle and his hand fell away as Mohinder looked at him with a sad smile, a mixture of pity and condescension in his eyes. Sylar wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and wrapped his arms protectively around himself. He shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, eyes downcast as the silence dragged on.

'Zane… I'm flattered, but--'

'No, it's ok. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…'

'Don't be sorry. It's fine. I'm just not… That is, I don't…'

Mohinder's words trailed off and he waved his hands ineffectually between them. 'Zane,' he started again.

'No. Honestly, Mohinder, it's ok.'

Mohinder clapped him on the arm and gave him a bright, bracing smile before turning on his heel. He carried on up the stairs, looking over his shoulder at Sylar when he didn't immediately follow.

'Come on.' He beckoned at Sylar encouragingly with a crook of his fingers. 'We need to find these people.'

_Yes, we do_, Sylar thought as he followed, taking the steps two at a time and ignoring the fresh sting of rejection in his core.


End file.
